Quote:
Originally Posted by Propagator
... My all seasons worked just fine on that road for the first hour, that is until the moment I ended up in the ditch. Luckily I was going slow, no other car was around me, and the ditch was a pile of soft snow, so no damage was done, but it was still scary as hell. ...
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LOL. This is exactly the story I heard from an acquaintance about an accident he had when we both were in high school. His story, which I heard 20 years later, was that he was driving cautiously, it was the other guy's fault, the insurance company was unfair, etc..
In fact, in terrible conditions, he blew by me and everyone else on the road going twice my speed, lost it on some ice, and wrecked his family's car.
It's a scoreboard thing - if one spins out, one was driving badly. I think it is actually the law - if one loses control and has an accident, one is at fault.
Driving on ice and snow in summer tires does not automatically result in an accident and megadeath. Yes, one is safer with snow tires, even safer with chains, safer still driving a Hummer at 5 mph, but driving in snow on summer tires can be fine and half the drivers are doing it.
I get on average 2 days a year of bad driving from ice and snow here in Seattle, and I'm not spending many hours and $$ shuffling my tires for those two trips. I got the x-drive to cover all bases, such as ski trips, in case I move, and just a little extra traction for hills and rain (accelerating, I know it doesn't help with braking).